>> this is dw news live from berlin. the death toll incident claims sharply. the u.n. says nearly 200 people are dead after a third day of heavy fighting between the army and a paramilitary group. the international committee calls to an end of the bloody power struggle. and russia sentences one of the kremlin's strongest critics, a journalist and top opposition activist, have to jail term

after he is convicted of treason for publicly denouncing moscow's war in ukraine. in some european countries ban grain from ukraine, presenting the e.u. with a new challenge -- how can the block, help kyiv access the world's markets without damaging its own? ♪ i am nicole-free. to our viewers turning us on pbs in the united states and around the world, welcome. the u.s. almost two hundred people have been killed and almost 2000 wounded amongst a brutal power struggle incident. for three days, government forces have been battling a rival paramilitary group, so-called rapid support forces, for capital of khartoum and other strategic pcbs.

[gunfire] reporter: fleeing the fighting in the streets of khartoum. those who can are leaving. others like these university students are shelter-in-place, but their supplies are running out. ordinary residents are suffering. sudan's army and the powerful paramilitary group the rapid support forces, or rsf turned their guns on each other, just months after signing a deal to restore civilian rule. the death toll continues to rise. the violence has left the airport, hospitals and top military buildings badly scarred. concern is mounting internationally about what the violence means for stability in sudan and the region. >> i strongly condemned the taking place in sudan, and i

appealed to the leaders of the sudanese armed forces and the rapid support forces to immediately cease hostilities, restore,, and begin a dialogue to resolve the crisis permitted the situation has led to a horrendous loss of life including of many civilians. any further escalation could be devastating for the country, and for the region. in any of the classes are an action of the long simmering power struggle between army and the rsm first joined forces to oust former dictator omar al-bashir in 2019. former prime minister abdalla hamdag warned of straying from sedans the two path. >> we have said goodbye to dictatorship forever. we can have a reversal, we can have setbacks, but we will never be defeated. reporter: that are sf in

the army, which other for starting the conflict, and they both said both will not back down. >> our correspondent is covering the region and asked him about the current situation there. reporter: just following the trajectory of things significantly getting worse. we're seeing that the conflict is spreading, as was mentioned just now, conflict spreading to the east and therefore as well which is the rss stronghold. they had many supported there years ago. that means that regions where civilians are significantly living in more precarious conditions than in the capital, khartoum, are more vulnerable now. there are reports of, for instance, balls falling on the army, wounding civilians and killing civilians there. on the other side, another

report of the rsf embedding themselves with local civilians in areas and neighborhoods and essentially looting a number of houses and even u.n. warehouses. nicole: the situation has gotten so bad that humanitarian aid agencies are shutting down operations, some in the area around our four and some across the country. how badly does this hurt the people of sudan? guest: significantly. we are talking about regions where there were huge protection gaps and protection concerns in the outset of armed conflict where there was instability and sporadic instances of conflict. now we are seeing that essentially the very people who rely on a number of services from these you and agencies, whether it was food distribution or assistance for shelter, now they will be deprived and their infrastructure will be

more compromised and targeted in the indiscriminate nature of this war. when we talk about civilian protection, we need to zero in on regions where civilians have been incredibly neglected. nicole: the violence of this outburst and this conflict boiling over now, i think, has stunned a lot of people inside and outside of student, right? but why. i want to talk about the timing, why is this happening now? guest: for people that have been following sudan, i am sorry to say, it's not a surprise, it has been well predicted. it's a bit of a condemnation on the international community why it is happening now. in the days leading up to the conflict breaking out, there was a push from the international community and for civilian organizations to think a final political deal that they believed would restore stability.

but it would leave a number of issues left unresolved. one of those issues mainly being security sector reform and the fate of the army and the rsf. each one was feared they would be losing power at the expense of another one in the new political deal. despite of those tensions, clear evidence of tension is building between them and in the previous weeks, there was still a push to think this deal. in fact, there was a deadline for april 1, that is when syrian elites called for a political deal to be signed. they held a security sector reform workshop which typically would take months and months of sensitive negotiations and other investment in the global community to ensure that things don't boil over between computer security forces. they wanted to do that when a couple of days and that did not

work out. what i'm trying to say is that the rush to get a political deal to stabilize sudan, actually that strategy accelerated the conflict between the paramilitary and the army and that is a condemnation on the international community. nicole: a conflict that has at this point left 200 people dead. can so much, that was our journalist jennings from cairo. guest: thank you for having me. very much appreciate it. nicole: western governments and human right organizations have widely condemned the sentencing of kremlin critic vladimir kara-murza 225 years in labor camp. he was convicted of treason and spreading disinformation about the russian military. he denied the charges. their u.s. ambassador to russia said the sentence was a sign of moscow's weakness and not strength, and was clearly an attempt to silence dissent.

kara-murza associate lawyer says given his poor health, the jail sentence amounts to a death sentence. reporter: a so-called strict regime labor camp in russia, the kind of prison in which led america remorse or may spend the next 25 years of his life. the dual aggression and citizen is one of russia's last permanent opposition figures and has been behind bars since april of 2022. russian authorities arrested him after he did not pressure the so-called social military operation in ukraine during a speech to american editions. he was first charged with spreading both information about the russian military, then prosecutors added a charge of treason. that son of the soviet era to the list, kara-murza has worked as a journalist and logical activist since he was 16. he served on the russian council of opposition and the ngo "open

russia." he was widely seen as a protege of the murdered opposition leader who was gunned down in the kremlin in 2015. he also alleges he was a target of political violence, twice narrowly surviving what doctors prescribed as international poisoning. long an outspoken critic of vladimir putin, cara morrissette remained defiant, saying he is proud of his statements and he looks forward to the day when the people who at least russia's invasion of ukraine are recognized as criminals. nicole: bill browder was once the largest foreign investor in russia and once a former colleague and friend of that in america remorse. he had this to say about the sentencing. >> my main thought is absolute horror. vladimir is think ill health at the moment because they tried to poison him twice, he is losing the sensation in both of his feet because of the nerve damage that those poisonings did and he

can barely walk now. he has lost about 20 kilos, and as his lawyer said, this is not a life sentence, this is a death sentence, they will basically kill him in prison if he has to carry on with the sentence, so i am crying on the inside right now for my friend and colleague because what they're doing to him is truly inhumane. the first thing we did, myself and his wife after he was arrested, we went to different countries that have passed the magnitsky act, which freezes the assets and bans that users of human rights leaders. vladimir was essential in getting this law passed. we went to them and said, you need to sanction the perpetrators, his persecutors essentially. and canada sanctioned them, the united states sanctioned them, but britain, where he has citizenship, has not sanctioned them, so britain is essentially

doing nothing for their own citizen while other countries where he does not have any connection, are doing all sorts of things. it is remarkable how passive the british government has been in the kara-murza case so far. nicole: that was bill browder talkative as earlier. poland, slovakia and hungary say they are banning the import and transit of green from ukraine, to protect their own agricultural sectors. this after local farmers complained of green coming from the war-torn country being sold below market price. with the eu wanting to help kyiv access the world's markets, brussels might have to intervene. it is causing long delays at the borders. reporter: a long line of ukrainian trucks stuck at the polish border. drivers say they have been waiting here for days after the country announced a temporary ban on great imports from ukraine. >> we can't go in either

direction. the poles reached out their hands to us, and i am immensely grateful, the whole ukraine a's, the world even permitted but now poland will not let us in the person reason. there is some kind of situation here. reporter: warsaw introduced the ban over the weekend, as a way to address the problem of local farmers being undercut by ukrainian green, which is cheaper than the locally grown equivalent. large amounts of it had been entering poland and other border countries after the usual export route on the black sea was partially blocked. but instead of the brain heading onwards to global markets, logistical bottlenecks cap to stock. that has meant ukrainian green has flooded local markets, down prices. shortly after the polish announcement, hungary full of suit and on monday, slovakia said it would be the same.

now several other european countries are considering similar actions. the european commission said it was looking into the legality of the measures. >> it is important to remind you that trade policies are at the european level, that is where decisions can be taken, and that is why we have been saying that unilateral action is not possible under e.u. trade policy. reporter: further complicating matters, last week, roscoe said it might not extend a deal that has been allowing some green to leave ukraine through its black seaport. with that feature of ukrainian grain exports and certain, the e.u. is having to trade a fine line between supporting its farmers, and supporting war-torn ukraine. nicole: furthermore, we can now speak to our correspondence in brussels and in kyiv.

i want to start with you, what can the e.u. do in this situation, what measures can it take against the unilateral action of poland, hungary, and slovakia? guest: we just heard in that report that the european commission in brussels has to tread a fine line. they appear to me to be trending very carefully, they will not drown onto the potential consequences or sections or punishments of this section. we had the spokesperson saying that unilateral sanctions are not possible but they didn't go to say that therefore, poland and in other countries are in breach of the rules, probably because they would prefer to settle this behind closed doors. not only at stake are those exports, but also the image of the european union as a united front. let's focus on poland. poland has made a name for itself internationally as one of

ukraine's staunchest backers, here in brussels we have often groups of ministers meeting in poland. there will always be among the first to call for more weapons for ukraine, more speed on ukraine's potential path towards joining the european union. but now, that support internationally has come up against a domestic hurdle. that is because farmers have been protesting in poland, and poland is a country which is facing an election this year, and those rural voters are of crucial significance to opponents current ruling party, the law and justice party. this could be seen as a carefully cognitive move by warsaw because poland has a lot of goodwill from and about ukraine in the bank basically because of that support which it has been offering, so perhaps it is willing to draw down on that support with what now seems to be rather public tiff. it may be well calculated,

because of the one hand, either this ben proceeds, or brussels intervenes and tells poland, hungary and slovakia to lift the ban. in that way, brussels can be blamed. that is potentially why the european commission seems reticent about speaking out for full -- -- forcefully against these actions. seeing unilateral actions are not possible, rather than condemning them directly. nicole: negotiations are ongoing. how is this dispute being perceived in ukraine? guest: ukraine is, as we just heard, very dependent on poland. poland has supported ukraine a lot. and so that is why the countries being careful about this. ideas have been ventilated that there might be some way of allowing transit to the seaports

of poland without discharging the green in poland, without it entering the polish market, again, lots of technical questions about the. we just heard that there is not only a dispute between ukraine and poland, but also grateful on how this should be done. there were tariffs removed on grain at the start of the war to support ukraine. and grain that had been blocked, the black seaports were blocked by russia and then subsequently ukraine had mined the coasts and the ships could not export the green. that is why these routes through poland and hungary and slovakia have been a lifeline for ukraine for much of this war, especially in the beginning. and ukraine is still dependent on these exports, but it is

treading the line very carefully. nicole: rose, what is going to happen next in brussels? pretty complicated picture you painted there. guest: plenty of debate expected. we know that european diplomats will be meeting and discussing this in the coming days, next week there is a meeting of european union foreign ministers, and following that, a meeting of european union agricultural ministers. but before that we might hear more from the european commission, because the commission has acknowledged there are problems being created, market distortions complained about by poland and these other countries bordering ukraine, and in order to respond to that, in march, the european commission and build support package of 56 million euros, around 62 million dollars to compensate those farmers or agricultural actors who are seeing prices decrease and are taking a hit to the industry. the european commission says it

is looking into a further support package and we might hear needs of that in the coming days. but really the bigger question is whether this move to suspend those tariffs on import of ukrainian agricultural products into the european union, whether that will be extended. it is due for extension in june. that commission has proposed extending it, but it will be down to the member states to give the backing for that and it could be that poland, hungary and slovakia could come together to try to block that, or negotiate some sort of different move going forward. so still plenty of politics to come here in brussels before we get a final picture of how this is going to move forward. nicole: we cannot talk about ukrainian grain without talking about the green new deal which is currently up for negotiation. how nervous are people in ukraine about a possible end to

that agreement? guest: from the very beginning, this agreement has been a very fragile agreement, there hasn't been much hope this would work over the long time. so it is remarkable that this is in place. however at the moment, a number of ships are stuck in istanbul because the two sides seemingly cannot agree on the procedure, which ships to inspect first. russia and ukraine together with partners turkey and the united nations. they expect each ship that sails into the ukrainian ports -- the inspect each ship that sails into the ukrainian ports. it seems at the moment of this procedure has been halted. it is a means of pressure. when the deal was last extended -- usually it works for 120 days and it is extended. each time it is extended, there

is of course some suspension on whether this will work. this time russia threatened several times to end this. this is a powerful tool for pressure to exert pressure on ukraine. but in the end, agreements have always been reached, likely due to pressure from turkey, at russia's main trading partner, main one of that main remaining trading partners, and russia's interest in exporting their own green and fertilizers. as a russian grain exports are up this may be a deal that russia is more dependent on than in recent times. nicole: rosie birchard in brussels and matteo's bunker in kyiv, thank you. let's have a look now at other stories making the news today. russia's foreign minister arrived in the brazilian capital where he was welcomed by his

counterpart. he is also due to meet russo's president. this is president claims number of nations could act as mediators in russia's war with kyiv. former chancellor angela merkel has received the grand cross of the order of merit for special achievement from the president of germany. she is only the third ex-leader to receive that distinction. french president emmanuel macron has said he understands the anger felt by the raising of france's retirement age from 62-64. speaking for the first time since signing the reform into law, he said it was necessary to keep the system afloat as the population ages. the unions say they will continue protesting. the suspect in saturday's attack on japan's prime minister fumio kishida has been sent to the prosecutor's office as

authorities continued their investigations. he was uninjured in the incident, when a suspected pipe bomb was thrown at him during a camping event. the suspect was arrested at the scene. in japan, foreign ministers of the g7 group of highly industrialized countries are meeting. top diplomats from member states are discussing the current crisis from the u.s. and sudan. they have been keen to present a united front in their approach to china. >> after a recent attack on japan's prime minister kishida, security at the g7 meeting is on high alert. the group of seven is currently headed by japan. the foreign ministers are meeting to discuss the war in ukraine, and china's increasing aggressive stance towards taiwan. >> so we will firmly reject any unilateral ty attempts to change

the status quo by force or russia's aggression against ukraine as well as its threat of use of their weapons. by doing so, we will demonstrate the g7's star determination to uphold the international order based on the rule of law. reporter: the sudden violence incident is also on the agenda of the g7's foreign ministers. the united states is calling for a cease-fire, one" by the u.k. -- one echoed by the u.k.. >>it lies in' the hands of the generals who are engaged in this fight. we call upon them to put peace first. to bring an end to the fighting, to get back to negotiations. that is what the people of sedona want, what the people of

sedona deserve. reporter: the foreign minister'' meeting comes ahead of the summit of g7 leaders in hiroshima in may. ♪ nicole: the quarterfinals resume on tuesday with this italian team looking to overturn their 1-0 deficit after losing to a sewer line. this time around, napoli will have the leading goalscorer layer back. he has scored over 25 goals so for this season. also hoping to claw their way back are the premier league side chelsea who trade the spanish giants real madrid. if chelsea failed to win the champions league, they could miss out and season. the english site are currently no were near a european sport in the premier league table and they are still looking for their first win under the interim boss .

here is what greg lampert had to say about the chelsea situation. >> we are not where we want to be. in a word, broken is a bit much. that is clear. position is a really in it premier league. those things are just reality that we have to work against. nicole: with that, you are up-to-date. stay with us, after a short break, i will be back to thinking through the day. hope to see you there. ♪

mark: welcome to france 24. i am mark owen and ease. over 180 killed in three days of fighting in sudan. the u.n. is calling for the conflict to end. sudan's military is fighting the rebel group rsf. most of the dead are reported to be civilians. cleared over the paris air disaster of 2009. all people on the flight perished as it fell from the sky over the atlantic.